BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Sir Andy Roberts has questioned the effectiveness of director of cricket, Jimmy Adams, claiming the former West Indies captain appeared to be on a “joyride” rather than actively overseeing the development of the international squad.
The 71-year-old fast bowling legend said Adams, appointed to the role in 2017, rarely spoke on the issues of cricket development in the region and seemed not to be focussing on this key area.
“Do you think that the cricket board has been watching the performance of the Director of Cricket over the years? So how have they not made that change for all this time,” Sir Andy said.
“I hardly hear the Director of Cricket say anything concerning the development of cricket. I think Jimmy has been on a joyride for a long time because he hasn’t come out and said [anything] pertaining to which direction the cricket is going.” Adams’s performance has come under the spotlight in the wake of West Indies’ shock exit from the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, where the Nicholas Pooran-led unit failed to get out of the qualifying stage.
The debacle triggered the resignation of head coach Phil Simmons and also led to widespread speculation over the top posts in Cricket West Indies. Adams, 54, replaced controversial Englishman Richard Pybus in January 2017, after spending five years as head coach of English county Kent. Sir Andy argued Adams was guilty of spending too much time focussing on the fitness aspect of players and not their skills development.
“Most of what I hear the director talking about is the fitness of the players and I think that shouldn’t be his portfolio,” the Antiguan told Starcom Radio’s Mason and Guest cricket show. “His portfolio is to enhance the skills of the players – that’s what he should be focussed on, instead of primarily the fitness of players.
“He should be more into the development of the skills set of these players because when you look at it, Ireland are more skillful than us, Zimbabwe are more skillful than us and it shows.” Sir Andy said concerning the development of the West Indies’ skills set, there was need for a change of focus from the traditional power-hitting.
“All this time people talking about power-hitting … cricket is not based on power-hitting whether it’s Test match, ODI, T20,” he stressed. “The skills are what is going to carry you through.”
West Indies entered the tournament in Australia as two-time former champions, having won titles in 2012 and 2016, both under all-rounder Daren Sammy.
However, they were swept 2-0 by hosts Australia in a pre-tournament series before suffering defeats to minnows Scotland and Ireland to bow out of contention in the eight-team qualifiers.
